A Quebec company that has been able to adapt its technology to enter the electric car battery industry has carved out a place for itself among the major automotive companies in the United States and Europe.
In five years, Laserax has multiplied its turnover by 10, and its president is aiming for $100 million within four years.
“We are David playing with Goliath, smiles Xavier Godmaire. Why do the big names in the auto industry choose a Quebec SME? Because we do unique things; we are the best in the world in certain applications. »
Before the pandemic, 80% of Laserax’s activities were in the laser marking of metals. To make suppliers accountable, traceability has become a criterion in the automotive industry and it is by working with aluminum smelters that the Quebec City SME was able to access this market with its ultra-high-speed indelible printers.
But this traceability market, which seemed to flourish, slowed with the reduction in car sales, caused by a shortage of semiconductors. To maintain their profitability, manufacturers have turned their efforts to reducing their operating costs.
A bearing pivot
Undaunted, Laserax adapted its laser to clean the batteries of electric cars, a very buoyant new vein. Before assembling the batteries, an oxidation layer must be removed to improve their performance and durability.
Now, 60% of Laserax’s turnover is in cleaning. And it will evolve into a complement: welding. The Swedish company Northvolt, which supplies batteries to Volvo and BMW, in particular, has just chosen the Quebec company to improve its performance.
“Cleaning and soldering the batteries is a bottleneck in the production chain. Our system is super fast. The Swedes looked all over the world and told us that they wanted to work with us”, rejoices the young entrepreneur, an engineer by training.
The Laserax machine welds and validates the conformity of each weld. Each unit can replace 10 ultrasonic welding machines, the previous technology.
The beauty of the matter is that laser marking, cleaning and welding are three different applications from the same machine, which Laserax manufactures according to the needs of its customers, whether they are at Ford or Rio Tinto.
It all started with diapers
The Laserax story began in 2009 with an R&D project for the laser cutting of layers, a solution hoped for by a European multinational. But between experimentation in a lab at Université Laval and commercialization, Xavier Godmaire and co-founder Alex Fraser hit a wall, as often happens in innovation.
“We spent three and a half years of our lives developing this, but the industrial world gave us a shovel in the face. A technology must work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, otherwise it does not help the customer”, observes the entrepreneur.
“Diapers have forged our character! Adaptation is now at the heart of our identity as entrepreneurs. We didn’t sell anything with this first experience, but we learned. »